Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Vintage Crazy Quilt..... View 2

Each block where it joins the next is outlined in various stitches. A Kate Greenaway motif of a girl jumping rope is the central image on this one. Her illustrations have become a favorite of Redwork embroiderers. The wheat ears in upper left look to be a fluffy embroidery of some type. On closer look, they could have been made separate than sewn down? All the flowers on this block were embroidered, not painted as on some of the other blocks. The pitcher has some really tiny detail as well, 2 birds, a boat, a flag.... ( Don't forget to click for the blown up detail photos )

Now this little man is one of my favorites. He looks like a Scottish Bagpiper to me however he could be a Chinaman with a ponytail and fan?? What do you think? Notice the fray setting in on this piece.... (shameful!) I also have no clue as to the meaning of the ivory intwined rope to the right.

Here's a closeup of another fan.. I love the jewel colors of the silk.

Another view of the backing, a hodge podge of various foundation materials. Would love to know the era of the brown checkered cloth. It appears to be cotton but with a looser type of weave.

The lovely Miss Carole Samples was gracious enough to respond with her thoughts below. With any luck as I go along she will add more of her knowledge and thoughts about it....

"+++ I know that you want to continue to show photos and perhaps more close-ups of the various blocks, and I'm grateful for that. I probably need to see at least a dozen to sixteen photos before I can get a really good sense of the quilt's age, but I also have to agree with you with regard to the Kate Greenaway motifs. Her heyday for illustrating was from about 1885 until her death in about 1907 (my memory might be off somewhat and probably is) -- which means that the quilt wouldn't be older than her first published drawing but that it could have been made any time thereafter. It really has a pre-turn-of-the-twentieth-century look to it, though. It's fancy enuf to have been sewn in the mid- to late 1880s or anywhere up to 1910 or so. If only the quiltmakers of the time would have believed that their work would be saved and cherished for a hundred years and more, and that a whole bunch of ladies in the 21st century would want to know ALL about them! We'd have more names and dates, wouldn't we? +++"

one of the first quilts i ever slept under was when i was a tennages, it was beautiful velvet crazy quilt my boyfriends grandmother made him. he treated it very poorly i now realize...did i ever covet that thing!